Like A Sunny Day
by talv1914
Summary: George and Angelina begin to have feelings towards each other, but Fred's death and Fred himself aren't something to ignore. Meeting after the war, they see the change in each other. Can they move on from their past?


A/N: This is made for the Quidditch Fanficion league. I obviously do not own HP. Angeline might be a bit of an OC, so sorry for that.

Prompts:Quicksand

Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day (Sonnet 18 - Shakespeare)

"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." ― Albert Camus

* * *

George is rushing through Weasley Wizard Wheezes, trying to get as much as he can do before he has to leave. He needs to go, he wants to, but something about leaving his younger brother, Ron, to manage the shop makes him feel uneasy.

He keeps an eye on the door, which keeps on ringing every time someone walks in, and these are many ringings. ''Nervous?'' Ron asks as he stands beside George and looks for something.

''No,'' George lies and rolls his eyes to hide his lie, ''Now, don't you have customers waiting for you?''

''Not anymore,'' his brother says with victory as he quickly shows the item he was looking for in his left hand, ''You should take a deep breathe, your date's here.''

He disappears in the direction which he came from, while George's head shoots up. After searching through a few strange faces, he finds the girl which he was looking for. Her wavy brown hair is lying on her shoulders, it seems a bit longer to George, who also notices the light makeup on her eyelashes and cheeks. For him, she is the most beautiful human being in the shop's crowd.

Quickly, George comes into his senses. Fixing his tie, he makes his way through the store, passing by screaming children, laughing teenagers and unsatisfied parents, yet most of the people are smiling and giggling. The smiles and happiness were what Fred and George wanted to achieve by opening this store and with only George left, the responsibility is all his.

Angelina's eyes are focusing on a few children who just tried one of the store's potions, and her lips are spread into a soft smile as she watches them. George hesitates at first, but then he puts his hand on her shoulder gently to get her attention. She turns to look at him and her smile widens when their eyes meet, causing George to smile as well.

''Ready to go?'' he asks.

''Sure,'' she replies and takes his free hand before leading him outside of the crowded store.

Angelina stops as soon as they are out of the door and turns to look at George. Her eyes meet his again, causing both wizards to recall forgotten feelings. It has been a year since they last saw each other, even though a year ago all they got was a glimpse of each other. George hasn't changed much, his hair is the same length and it seems to Angelina that he still looking at her in the same way, but he has bags under his eyes, which aren't the same sparkling ones. She seems similar to the girl who George once knew, only more mature and more beautiful, yet she, just like George, has something different in her eyes, maybe a certain tiredness, but that is the only flaw which George can find so far.

''Do you want to go somewhere, or…?'' She asks, but lets him complete the sentence.

''There is a new ice cream shop a few buildings away, I haven't been there yet.'' George says and hurries to add, ''If you want to.''

''Sounds good.'' Angelina says with a small grin and lets George show her the way.

They walk side by side, both trying to come up with something good to say. Angelina is deadly nervous and she pushes her hands as far as she can into her jacket's pockets. She looks from the side of her eyes at George, who is looking at the pavement beneath his legs or at their surroundings. Looking at him makes her smile softly as she remembers he was always the quiet one between the two twins.

''I met your mom the other day,'' Angelina says simply and earns a curious gaze from the redhead beside her, ''she said she was trying a new dish, something with mushrooms.''

George's face twitches in disgust, causing the girl to laugh. ''_That_,'' he says, obviously horrified, ''_That_ is not a dish, it is more like a danger to the humankind. _All_ kinds.''

He can't help but smile as well, somehow Angelina always had this effect on him. He is the funny guy with the pranks, yet all he needs to smile is her. Since Fred was gone, not many things got him to smile, to _really_ smile, but she is an exception. It is one of the things he loved about Angelina, she understood his humor and enjoyed it and she could make him smile and laugh.

George stops in front of a brown, two floored building. Its windows are the wall's length, allowing to see the soft colors on the inside walls. The first floor's tables are all taken, but there are much less people on the second floor. George lets Angelina walk in first and after buying their ice creams, they take a seat in the corner of the second floor, isolated from other people.

''How are you?'' Angelina finally asks and looks straight at George, while using her small spoon to dig into her ice cream.

''I am alright, I guess,'' he says without looking up from his ice cream.

Angelina sighs, she had a feeling she would come across such an answer, but she is not ready to give up. George and her have always been in a good relationship, which is why she allows herself to expect a different answer from the boy, though she can hardly say he is a boy anymore. ''Come on, George, you can do a bit deeper than that.''

Her response causes George to meet her eyes. Usually people are satisfied with his short, not necessarily true, reply. He almost forgot how honest and eager Angelina is. ''I am better,'' he says with a shrug, ''never _good_ or anything like that, but I am better.''

Angeline opens her mouth, but she isn't sure what she wants to ask. She wants to say that she is sorry for Fred's death, but how much could that mean to someone who has heard that sentence thousand of times before? Silence begins between the two and the witch hopes they could change a subject, because George doesn't seem to open up to her.

But she's wrong. ''It is weird not having Fred by my side. I am not joking when I say that a part of me is missing.'' George says and shakes his head a bit.

Only then Angelina notices the man's missing ear. She completely forgot what happened until that moment, it makes her stare at the bandage, which is flatly covering the spot where George's ear should be. ''It must have been difficult, going through all of this.'' She says quietly as the man across the table notices where her gaze is.

He nods and chuckles sadly. ''It was. Losing Fred was the hardest, it's… the person who is supposed to be your soulmate, understand you better than anyone else, be your other half, is gone. And there is nothing you can do about it.'' George says and takes a deep breathe, ''I could handle one ear, until Fred's death. When he… died, it also made living with one ear more difficult. It felt like being stuck in the middle of a quicksand, all of the sudden, and there is nothing you can do, it just pulls you deeper.''

Without thinking about the act too much, Angelina stretches her hand forward and holds George's hand. As her hand touches him, George is taken back and his face is showing it. Angelina pulls back quickly, but smiles to show that she isn't offended. She guesses that George hadn't been on too many dates for a while now, therefor he isn't used to this intimacy, even though it is very limited.

''I'm sorry,'' George says quickly, ''I have just realized that it was always you and Fred. You were _together_, while you and I were _friends_.''

''Geroge, it's alright,'' Angeline replies softly, ''I just want you to know that I am here for you. I might not be able to completely understand the way it feels to lose your twin, but I am here for whatever you need.''

''I know,'' George says truthfully and looks directly into her eyes, ''and I am thankful for that. Everyone tries to make me grief or move on, they all try to get something out of me, get me to do something. And it feels like you can sit with me and talk, you don't try to make me do anything, you let me be.''

''I know you have enough people for that,'' Angeline says with a shrug, ''And I know that grief and crying and talking about it are things which you'll get out when you'll need and want.''

The two young people smile at each other and quietly finish their ice creams. George becomes a bit nervous by Angelina's presence. She was practically his brother's girlfriend not too long ago and now he is the one on a date with her. Maybe it is a mistake, maybe he should have made up an excuse and cancelled. How would Fred react if he knew? Suppose Fred is watching them at the moment, George can imagine his twin joking about Angelina never loving Fred's twin, but only the _original version_, or about her great sexual or kissing skills.

After throwing into the garbage the two small ice cream cups, the two leave the shop. Angelina hopes they will hang out a bit more, but she also notices how George keeps looking at his watch when he thinks she isn't noticing. ''Are you worried about Ron being all alone in the store?'' she asks with a grin, while they walk in the direction they came from.

George blushes, yet smiles. ''Yes, I wouldn't trust that boy too much. '' He jokes.

Angelina nods, though she has a feeling that George's worry has more to do with the fact that someone, who isn't Fred, is taking care of their store. She doesn't want to ask or say anything about that, George seems already down.

George can also feel the heaviness in the air and after noticing most of today's conversation was about him, he decides to change the subject. ''So, how are you? Are you working anywhere?''

''Not regularly,'' Angelina admits, ''but I have thought about finding a nice job that has to do with Quidditch.''

''Really?'' he asks and adds, ''I can already see the headlines about how you have kicked some manly beater asses.''

''I haven't played in a while, so I kind of miss it. I still haven't decided what I want to do, but I don't think I'll necessarily be _playing _Quidditch.''

They reach a place in front of Weasley Wizard Wheezes where George should be going back into the store and Angelina should be heading the other way. ''I am sure that whatever you'll be doing will be great.'' George says with a grin after standing in front of Angelina.

''Likewise,'' she says with a smile and he notices the light blush, which covers her face.

Then they stand there. Angelina keeps looking around nervously while George, who doesn't show how nervous he, looks at her. He doesn't know what to do, he doesn't know what will be the appropriate thing to do. She wonders about the same, but being the eager person she is, she can't let this just slip away from her.

''Would it be inappropriate of me to say that even though I used to date you twin, I want to go out with you again?'' Angelina asks without looking George in the eyes.

She can hear his small chuckle, what causes her to look up and meet his gaze. ''Would it be inappropriate to say the same?'' he asks.

''No,'' she replies with a happy smile, but she lets it fade away before saying, ''If _this_ will become something, can we agree not to feel guilty because of Fred? Because there is no sense in trying to live whilebeing stuck in the past.''

George's gaze becomes as serious as her's and after a few seconds he says, ''Agreed. We'll meet again, then?''

''Sure,'' Angelina says, not able to hide her smile.

Surprisingly, George kisses her cheek before saying his goodbye and heading towards his shop. After a few steps he turns around and waves at her with a grin. Angelina only smiles back, which he finds as enough.

She continues to stand there and watch him walk through the crowd walking on the street. By this point, anyone can see he has changed. His smile can be the brightest as it used to be, but sometimes you can see the dark cloud which is hanging above him. But even though the darkness surrounding George, Angelina can still see the happy person, the one who wears colorful clothes and jokes around. He is like a sunny day and his presence makes her feel as good as the sun shining on her.

George can see her as if she is Fred's for how long he wants, but inside she feels like the mature and sweet one among the twins is who she needs right now. He is the one who fits the person she became.


End file.
